A Scottish-African collaboration is launching a far-reaching education initiative this evening (30th June 2010) at the Edinburgh College of Art.

‘JANEEMO Education’, which has been developed to meet the national Curriculum for Excellence themes of global citizenship and sustainable development, is being premiered for teachers and other education professionals to help them raise awareness of climate change and deforestation amongst Scottish school pupils. The educational resource, which includes films, comics and teacher materials, is also being utilised in Malawian classrooms.

Included in the programme are two films directed by BAFTA nominated filmmaker Julian Krubasik (aged 25), and Sabine Hellmann (aged 29), students of Film/TV Documentary/Cinematography at the Edinburgh College of Art. Commissioned by the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, the first informational film introduces the JANEEMO initiative and outlines the use of JANEEMO trees and seeds. The second film, Joseph’s Road, tells the story of a young teenager as he makes choices about his future in a changing environment.

JANEEMO is an innovative Malawian enterprise, funded by the Scottish Government. Oil-rich seeds from three tree species, Jatropha, Neem and Moringa, collectively known as JANEEMO, can be processed to produce biofuels for lamps, stoves and generators, or turned into soap. The residue from this process can be used to produce biogas for cooking and then finally as an agricultural fertiliser. In addition, leaves and extracts from the Neem and Moringa trees have important nutritional as well as medicinal uses.

JANEEMO trees are already being used by over 1,000 farmers and their families in Southern Malawi’s remote Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts.

The films will be distributed to hundreds of Scottish schools with Government body, Learning and Teaching Scotland, assisting teachers to develop games and exercises around the educational resource. As well as the films, the education pack contains a range of classroom activities developed by Scottish schools and a series of comics developed in association with Malawian schoolchildren. The pack will also be accessible to all Scottish schools through Learning and Teaching Scotland’s GLOW website, the world’s first national intranet for education.

Filmmaker Julian Krubasik said, “Many aspects in a child’s life, no matter where they live are similar, but there are often big differences in the way children live and the energy they use. We want to make children in Scotland aware that children in Malawi can’t just switch a switch to turn on a light or their television.”

Grant Davidson, JANEEMO Project Co-ordinator at the Macaulay Institute, said, “In Malawi, communities are heavily dependant on shrinking forests for firewood but sourcing firewood is becoming increasingly difficult, reducing time available for education and enterprise development. The project tackles food security and renewable energy whilst building community enterprises.”

The JANEEMO film was also supported by Malawian company, Entech, the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh and consultancy, Climate Futures.

The event takes place at the Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh on Wednesday 30th June from 5:00 to 8:00pm.

ENDS

Any media wishing further information or wishing to attend the event should contact:

Charles Henderson JANEEMO Communication Co-ordinator
Tel: 07740 946955
E-mail: charles@janeemo.org

Information for Editors

JANEEMO
A recent analysis by the Malawi government identified over 75% of households in Chikwawa District as extremely poor. Nutrition levels are not high and access to health and education services is limited. Communities are heavily dependent on shrinking forests for energy. Sourcing firewood is becoming increasingly difficult, reducing time available for education and enterprise development. In common with many African countries, HIV and AIDS have led to a reduced labour force. As a result, households are often female headed. This means that women and girls face multiple challenges of caring, supplying food and energy for growing households. JANEEMO helps tackle all these challenges by providing enterprise, fuel, nutritional, health and agricultural improvements. For more information, visit www.janeemo.org

The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute was founded in 1930 and is an international centre for research and consultancy on the environmental and social consequences of rural land uses. With an annual income from research and consultancy of over £14 million, the Institute is the largest interdisciplinary research organisation of its kind in Europe, and aims to provide evidence to help shape future environmental and rural-development policy on a national and international basis.

Edinburgh College of Art
In 2005 the industry’s skills council Skillset endorsed Edinburgh College of Art, in collaboration with Napier University, as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in film education and training and a member of the UK-wide network of Screen Academies.